On Wednesday 6 March, French MEP Michel Dantin (EPP), rapporteur in Parliament for the revision of the Drinking Water Directive, welcomed the fact that the Council of the EU had finally adopted its position on this proposal (see EUROPE 12207) the day before, but regretted that despite the Romanian Presidency's strong political will, this position was too late to allow an European Parliament/EU Council agreement to be reached before the May European elections.
“This puts Parliament's negotiating team in a delicate situation. European citizens have repeatedly made their voices heard on this subject, in particular on access to water for European citizens and the reassessment of quality parameters that must be in line with today's pollutants”, he said, referring to the European Citizens' Initiative Right2water.
In October 2018, Parliament itself had pronounced this and given Michel Dantin a mandate to start negotiations with the EU Council (see EUROPE 12123). The assembly will therefore complete its first reading at a forthcoming plenary session with the intention of consolidating its position. “We hope that the work done by Parliament's negotiating team will be taken forward to the next Parliament so that negotiations with the EU Council can take place. I believe this is an excellent basis for negotiations during the next Parliament”, said Mr. Dantin.
On Tuesday, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Karmenu Vella, spoke to European ministers and deplored the lack of political will shown by the EU Council to start interinstitutional negotiations at the start of the year. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)